hazards
by MissingMommy
Summary: Charlie gets hurt at work, and Draco realizes just how dangerous Dragon Taming is. :: CharlieDraco.


For the Last Ship Standing comp – Charlie/Draco with the prompts: action – someone must kiss someone/something; emotion – adoration; song – "This Kiss" by Faith Hill, more specifically the lines – "Kiss me in sweet slow motion, let's let everything slide."

For the OTP boot camp – diligence (implied).

Dear Nayla: fuck you and your word minimum. Forever yours, Sam.

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A loud "pop" causes Draco to look up from his potion. He furrows his eyebrows slightly because it's unusual to hear the sound of Apparation throughout the flat since his boyfriend gets Apparation-sickness and tends to walk everywhere he needs to go. He pushes up his left sleeve, noticing the time. It's far too early for Charlie's shift to be over.

The only explanation left is that Charlie's been sent home because he's gotten hurt.

Draco vanishes the contents of his potion to avoid another explosion before calling out, "Charlie?" When Charlie doesn't reply, Draco walks to the bathroom, knowing that's where he usually tries to patch himself up.

He leans against the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest, watching as Charlie summons some of the necessary items to heal himself. Charlie must feel Draco's eyes, because he turns to look around the room. A smile spreads across his face as he notices Draco. "Thought you were coming back tomorrow," Charlie says.

"Management needed some potions that they were low on, so I came back early to deliver some of them and make the others," Draco replies. He purposefully looks away, at the items Charlie's set out on the counter. "Where are you hurt?"

Draco knows that Charlie's debating with himself about telling him where he's hurt because Charlie is stubborn and independent when it comes to work. Draco also knows it must be bad because Charlie says, "On my back."

Wordlessly, Charlie sits on the toilet, with his back towards Draco. Draco can see a faint hint of dried blood on Charlie's black shirt. He takes out his wand and silently casts, "_Diffindo_," on it. Charlie protests causing Draco to roll his eyes. "Like you would want to pull your shirt over your head when you've hurt your back."

As Draco pulls the cut shirt away from Charlie's back, he inhales sharply. The wound looks worse than he thought it would. A deep gash goes along most of his back, too close to his spine for Draco's taste. But he forces himself to focus on healing. "What happened?" Draco asks, mildly curious as to what caused this. He also knows that talking about it distracts Charlie from the pain.

"A rookie made a mistake," Charlie says. "It was his first time collecting eggs from mother dragons, so I explained how to collect an egg before I demonstrated. He got too close to Norberta and her eggs, causing her to go on a rampage while I was in her territory. I noticed her tail a little too late. I couldn't dodge completely, so I took it where I knew would hinder me the least."

Draco winces when he hears _Norberta_. "That explains this gash," he responses. He casts the spell to clean the wound, hearing Charlie sharply inhale with pain. "My apologies," he murmurs. "Did you get the eggs before Norberta smashed them?"

Charlie frowns, "Yes. Norberta was too busy attacking the rookie to be near her eggs. And according to protocol, I had to get the eggs out of danger before I could aid him. Thankfully, another Dragon Tamer saw the commotion and came to help out."

Draco picks up the essencesofdittany from the sink and places a few drops along the wound. He watches as the skin slowly starts to knit back together. It doesn't completely close, and Draco knows that it's deep enough to require another dose. However, he can't apply it until tomorrow.

"How badly hurt is the rookie?" he asks. He gathers the bandages from the sink and starts to carefully wrap them around Charlie's torso.

Charlie grimaces. "He's got burns to most of his body. The Healers say that he's lucky to be alive, but he'll make it."

Draco nods as he finishes wrapping Charlie's wound. As Charlie turns to stand, Draco summons another shirt and a vial of a weak pain potion. Charlie takes the shirt from Draco's grip and shrugs it on. "Button down. How thoughtful," Charlie teases with a grin.

Draco rolls his eyes, offering the vial in his hands. Charlie takes it and places it on the counter. He moves closer to Draco, pulling him closer. "Thank you," he whispers against Draco's temple.

"You need to be more careful. Two centimeters, Char –"

Charlie tilts Draco's head towards himself, crushing his lips against Draco's to silence him. "I know, Dray," he says. "But it's the hazards of the job. I'm as careful as I can be under the circumstances."

It's not exactly what Draco wants to hear, but he accepts it anyways because he knows that there's nothing in the world that would cause Charlie to give up his dragons. Charlie loves what he does, even if it is dangerous. So instead of arguing about his safety, Draco lets Charlie kiss him again.

They stand in the middle of the bathroom; Charlie's arms wrapped around Draco's waist as he tries to make Draco's worries disappear.

A/n – Thanks so much to Kelly for beta-ing this for me!


End file.
